Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

[Kinseth]

I like the new Urk, nicely done.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Is Urk supposed to work with the Horned Skull Brutes? At the moment, he can move them around, but you only talk about using him with the cutters.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Asterios by the French HS community

Minotaurs have been sorely under-represented in the war for the well-springs, but now our brothers from another motherland have taken the bull by the horns and summoned forth the mighty Asterios! Will he be très bien, or leave us seeing rouge? We shall see, but if he has what it takes to make it into the Soldiers of Valhalla that would be Legen... wait for it...

Balance

There's a lot of competition in the '120 point solo hero' category, but Asterios compares pretty well. He's just more match-up dependent than most. He's not doing 120 points of damage to Heroes most of the time, but against Squads it's quite possible for him to do that and more, so it balances out.

Theme

Overall, I really like Asterios. His name is a great fit, and Legendary Creature is a deliciously thematic power. Dauntless isn’t my favorite pick for his personality, but it doesn't really bother me either.

My only beef theme-wise is with Furious Charge, there's just nothing 'Chargey' about it. The mechanics of Ninjutsu Barrage still work for a Minotaur tearing through the battlefield or what have you, but the name just isn't a good fit. However, Augamo has already set a VC precedent with his Headlong (not-remotely-a) Charge SA, so I'm forced to give Asterios a free pass here.

Creativity

Furious Charge is basically just a reuse of Ninjutsu Barrage, but a fitting one. The selective disengage is a nice unique touch though. Legendary Creature is a really neat new power, it's very blatantly anti-squad, but it's done in a way that feels thematic instead of feeling forced and 'Meta-gamey'.

Playability

Asterios is an anti-squad figure obviously. Against other Heroes he doesn't have much going for him and he's going to lose against most anything around his point value (that's not a cheerleader) the majority of the time, though with 4 attack he'll at least go down swinging. When he does face those squad figures though, specifically ones of the small to medium variety, he can really shine. Hearty life, high defense, and a multi-attack option are a recipe for success against the little buggers, especially with his ability to move between strikes helping him ensure he always has targets for his charge.

Is he unbeatable against small or medium squad figures? No, definitely not. Anything with a decent attack will crack through his defense eventually, same as the Minions or anything else with high defense. Likewise, his Furious Charge only hits for an unboostable 3 attack, so anything with decent defense won't be hemorrhaging causalities from an Asterios turn most of the time. Unless you're down to Deathreavers vs. Asterios, it's never totally hopeless for the squaddies and I never felt he was overly frustrating to play against.

Summary

Asterios is a lot of fun overall, and I like what he adds to the game. A new squad-killer Hero in the form of an iconic mythological creature? Most definitely worthy of induction in my opinion.

I vote to induct the Asterios to the SoV.

..dary!

[LoDeNo]

Thanks for your work, SoV's members. I Hope vegietarian18 will love to play with Asterios too.

[Lyrgard]

With Soundwarp's vote, I believe Asterios gathered enough votes to pass ! That's a great new, the french community will rejoice, as will do all the people here that liked Asterios (and I'll rejoice twice more, being there and here) !

Let the beast loose !

[Seb from space]

Our french minotaur is coming !
It's a bad day for blastatrons and gladiatrons... ;o)

[Scytale]

Originally Posted by Soundwarp SG-1

Is Urk supposed to work with the Horned Skull Brutes? At the moment, he can move them around, but you only talk about using him with the cutters.

I would also like to know if that is the intent. Bugbears usually only submit to strength, not lower goblins. It bothers me a bit about the design, but it may be important for how it plays.

Also, what Homeworld is he from?

[Scytale]

Congratulations to the French community! Asterios has received four Yea votes (Scytale, capsocrates, superfrog, and Soundwarp SG-1) and has been inducted into the Soldiers of Valhalla!

The unit will proceed to C3V Editing and Art before final release.

[superfrog]

Urk's Mob Swarm does work with the Bugbears, I didn't realize that that might not hit the theme as well. He is intended to work with both HSBs and Cutters and was tested with both.

He's from Ebberon, where the Cutters are from.

[Ixe]

Congratulations to the French Forum for Asterios! That was one I had playtested when I applied to be a judge and I can vouch first hand how much fun he is to play. I look forward to bringing him out in a tournament.

[Scytale]

Originally Posted by superfrog

Urk's Mob Swarm does work with the Bugbears, I didn't realize that that might not hit the theme as well. He is intended to work with both HSBs and Cutters and was tested with both.

He's from Ebberon, where the Cutters are from.

I think I can live with it as is.

to review Urk

[Simval]

Hooray for Asterios !
Obviously I liked him, since I provided some of the ideas for the design, but even without taking this into account, he's just an awesome custom. I'm very happy that he passed as an unofficial figure.

Prepare yourself for HS Online Season 17, fellow online-players.


Concerning Urk : An awesome custom, good luck to the designers. I hope he'll pass.